Full extension drawer slide assembly



Oct. 23, 1962 T. G. MILLER, JR

FULL EXTENSION DRAWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY Filed June 19, 1 961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

THEODORE G. MILLER I12.

MQM

AT TOENGY Oct. 23, 1962 T. e. MILLER, JR

FULL EXTENSION DRAWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 1961 i m mm M v J ATTORNEY Oct. 23, 1962 T. G. MILLER, JR

FULL EXTENSION DRAWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 19, 1961 INVENTOR. THEODORE G. MlLLera II?- ATTOQNEY nit rate 3,059,986 Patented Get. 23, 1962 hire 3,059,986 FULL EXTENSION DRAWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY Theodore George Miller, In, District Heights, Md., as signer to Space-Tone Electronics Corp., a corporation of Maryland Filed June 19, 1961, Ser. No. 118,148 2 Claims. (til. 312-638) This invention relates to a drawer slide and is particularly concerned in the provision of a series of interconnected slide rails which may be readily installed between a drawer and a cabinet and it consists in the constructions, arrangements and combinations herein described and claimed.

It is the cardinal object of the invention to provide a mounting rail, a slide rail and an extension rail which are slidably keyed one within the other thereby forming compact, rigid, smooth sliding side rails when mounted in pairs, either on the sides of a drawer and cabinet, or upon the bottom of the drawer and a shelf portion of the cabinet; the keying of these members being such that the three parts will slide without vibration whether being moved to a closed position; a semi-extended position or a full extended position; and thereby provides a structure which is particularly useful and practical for the mounting of record-changer drawers or turntable mounting board slides in the stereo and high-fidelity industries.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a drawer slide, all parts of which may be formed from plastic materials, such as nylon, rigid polyvinyls, rigid polycthylenes, high impact polystyrene, etc., singly or in combination one with another, since these materials have, in actual practice, been found to provide a slide which is of highly smooth sliding action, which is instrumental in reducing vibratory motions during movement of a drawer.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide stop means between the mounting rail and slide rail, as well as a removable stop in the extension rail, the latter permitting removal of a drawer, when found necessary, as well as simplifying the assembly of a drawer upon the extension slide rail.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will be apparent from the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

FIGURE 1 is a phantom perspective View of a cabinet and drawer illustrating the installation of a pair of slides for support of a drawer.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of one of the slides.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of one of the slides illustrating the mounting between a cabinet and drawer, the latter being shown in opened position.

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross section taken on the ine 6-6 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 8 is a cross section taken on the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a cross section illustrating the mounting of the extension rail upon a side of the drawer.

FIGURE 10 is a side elevation of a modified form of slide.

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken on the line II11 of FIGURE l0.

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line I2-I2 of FIGURE 10.

FIGURE 13 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line I3-13 of FIGURE 10, and

FIGURE 14 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the side and extension rails and stop means employed between the two.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated in broken lines, a cabinet generally indicated by the reference character 10 having a drawer Ii which is slidably supported for movements into and from the cabinet.

In the present disclosures of the invention, the drawer II has been shown and will be described as being slidably supported upon interlocking multiple rail sections 112, one of which is secured horizontally upon respective upright walls 13 of the cabinet. However, it is obvious that these rail sections may be readily secured to the bottom wall of the drawer receiving opening and the underside of the drawer and obtain same results.

Attention is now invited particularly to FIGURES 2 to 6 of the drawings wherein it will be seen that the slide support for the drawer comprises a pair of mounting rails 14 which are of identical formation. A mounting rail 14- is secured by means of screws 15 upon the opposed inte rior walls I3 of the cabinet at the same vertical level. The mounting rail 14 is formed with a dove-tail groove to which is medially positioned longitudinally thereof extending the full length of the rail, there being a smaller dove-tail groove 17 medially positioned in the base of the groove 16. The groove '17 is open at the rear end as at 18, the forward end closed by means of a stop member 19.

A slide rail 20 is employed for slidable engagement within the groove 16 and to this end the side edges 21 and base 22 conform to the contour of the dove-tail groove 16. The slide rail 20 at the rear thereof is provided with a stop member 23 which travels longitudinally in the groove 1'7 of the mounting rail 14 during opening and closing movements of the drawer 11 as will be described hereinafter.

The slide rail 20 is also provided with a dove-tail groove 24 which is complemental to a correspondingly shaped tongue 26 on the extension rail 25, the latter being suitably secured upon respective sides 27 of the drawer Ill.

The extension rails 25 are provided with a longitudinally extending slot 28, which slots terminate inwardly of the rear end thereof forming a stop 29.

In order that outward sliding movement of the extension rails 25 may be limited, as well as to secure the slide rails 20 and extension slide rails 25 in assembled relation, the rails 20 are each formed with an opening 30 which enter the groove 24 medially of the longitudinal axis thereof, as best seen in FIGURES 7 and 8. The opening 30 next adjacent the groove 24 is recessed as at 31 and at opposite points in the periphery of the openings 38 notches 32 are formed for accommodating respective lugs 33 of a locking bolt 34. The locking bolt has an integrally formed projecting pin 35 of a length to traverse the groove 28 of the extension rail 25. The pin 35 will engage the stop 29 when the extension rail 25 has been moved to the outermost extended position of the drawer and thus limits further outward movement of the drawer.

When it is desired to assemble or dismantle the extension rails 25 from the side rails 20, the locking bolts may be rotated by means of a screw driver inserted in the slot 36 on the outer face of the bolts. Rotation of the locking bolts will align the lugs 33 with the notches 32 and the bolts may then be withdrawn.

In the modified form shown in FIGURES 9 to 13, the construction is the same except for the shape and interlocking sliding engagement between the mounting rail, the slide rail and the extension rail, and corresponding parts in the modified form have been identified by primed reference characters.

Referring to FIGURES 11 to 13, it will be seen that the mounting rails 14' are formed with arcuate shaped upper and lower opposed grooves 37 for accommodation of the slide rails 20, the longitudinal edges 38 corresponding to the curvature of the opposed grooves 37; and similarly the slide rails 20 are also provided With arcuate shaped upper and lower opposed grooves 39 for accommodation of longitudinally rounded edges 41 of the extension slide rails 25.

The assembly of the mounting rails 14 and the slide rails 20 will preferably be at the factory, but the extension slide rails 25 may be installed upon the drawer at a later time.

To assemble slide rails 20 in the mounting rail 14, attention is directed to FIGURE 2 of the drawings and as indicated, the locking bolt 34 will be removed from the slide rail 20 and as indicated by dotted lines the adjacent end of the slide rail 20 will be inserted in the dove-tail groove 16, the stop 23 entering the open end 18 of the groove 17, and may be moved forwardly in said groove 17 until stops 19 and 23 are in contacting engagement. The extension slide 25 is then inserted into groove 24, as indicated by dotted lines and is moved a substantial distance along the groove 24 so that the stop 2% of the extension slide 25 has passed beyond the opening 30 of the slide rail 20. The locking bolt 34 may next be installed in the opening 30 and secured therein by rotating the same to present the lugs 33 in the locking position. Thus secured, the pin 35 of the locking bolt 34 will be disposed in the groove 28 of the extension rail.

In the operation of opening the drawer 11, the drawer may be moved outwardly from the cabinet due to sliding engagement between the rails and until stop 29 engages the pin 35, whereupon continued outward movement of the drawer will bring stop 23 of slide 20 into contacting engagement with stop 19 of mounting rails 14.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the drawer It may be moved to varying stages of adjustment from a partially open position to a position wherein the drawer is fully moved outwardly from the cabinet, as shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, and in all positions the drawer is firmly supported.

Should it become necessary to remove the drawer from the slide rails 20, it is only necessary to rotate the locking bolts so as to align lugs 33 with the notches 32 and withdraw the locking bolts, whereupon the drawer is released from the slide rails.

While I have shown and specifically described preferred forms of the drawer slide, this is by way of illustration only, and I consider as my own all such modifications in construction as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A drawer slide for mounting a drawer in a cabinet for movement through a drawer opening in the cabinet comprising, an elongated mounting rail having means for mounting within the cabinet, the mounting rail having forward and rear ends which when the mounting rail is mounted within the cabinet will occupy respective positions adjacent the drawer opening and remote therefrom, the mounting rail having a dove-tail type groove extending longitudinally the full length thereof, a second groove within the dove-tail type groove extending longitudinally of the mounting rail and opening to the rear end of the mounting rail, a stop member in the second groove adjacent the forward end of the mounting rail, a slide rail having a cross-sectional shape for sliding fit within the dove-tail type groove of the mounting rail, the slide rail having a stop projecting therefrom into the second groove of the mounting rail, the slide rail stop being adjacent the rear end of the slide rail, the slide rail having a dove-tail type groove in the face opposite the slide rail stop extending longitudinally the full length of the slide rail, the slide rail groove being open to both ends of the slide rail, an extension slide rail having means for mounting on a drawer, the extension slide rail having a cross-sectional shape for sliding fit within the dovetail type groove in the slide rail, the extension slide rail having a longitudinally extending groove in the face for sliding movement adjacent the botttom of the dove-tail type groove in the slide rail, the groove in the extension slide rail having a stop adjacent the rear end of the ex tension slide rail, the slide rail having an opening therethrough communicating with the dove-tail type groove therein adjacent the forward end of the slide rail, and a removable locking bolt insertable in the opening in the slide rail and projecting into the groove in the extension slide rail for cooperation with the stop in the extension slide rail to lock the extension slide rail to the slide rail and limit the forward movement of the extension slide rail relative to the slide rail, the locking bolt and opening having companion interlocking means.

2. A drawer slide as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the companion interlocking means include lugs on the locking bolt and the opening having bayonet slot recesses to receive the locking bolt lugs, the locking bolt being flush with the outer surface of the slide rail when seated in the opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 781,530 Jespersen Ian. 31, 1905 1,231,291 Otte June 26, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,972 Great Britain J an. 29, 1901 

